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Cambodia and the Stone Age of Hosting

Cambodia and the Stone Age of Hosting

Cambodia is a beautiful country with a rich history represented by its architecture and monuments, such as, for instance, the breathtaking King’s Palace.

And just as it is highly regulated what is allowed in temples and what is not, so too is Cambodia's legal and digital landscape. Let’s learn more about the shared hosting and website builder market in Cambodia.

Cambodia and Domainity

Filip Borcov, Incredible at Site.pro

00:40 Fully regulated country — ministry controls domains too much
01:10 cctld .kh official price ~$40, resellers ~$100
01:20 ~5K .kh domains. Domainity: 0.16
01:40 Population: ~18M. Internet penetration: ~60%
03:00 Hosting prices: ~$5/month, mostly sold annually
03:45 Independence: USD official currency alongside local currency
05:45 Lifehack #1: funnels must keep message consistent from ads to checkout
06:40 Lifehack #2: Domain price = entry point — cheap domains attract as website builder
08:15 Internet cost: ~$10 for large data or unlimited plans

The Digital Landscape of Cambodia

The population of Cambodia is around 18 million people, with an Internet penetration rate of over 60%. However, there are only 5,000 local domains (.kh).

The Internet in Cambodia is very cheap, only $5–10 for unlimited traffic, without any extra margins.

Domain struggles

To buy a domain here, you have to submit a request to a special ministry first, which slows down the process a lot. All local domains are distributed by the central registry; the official price for a .kh domain is $40. It is possible to buy domains through registrars and domain resellers for a much higher price — $100 or even $200.

The process is rather convoluted; you can’t just go online, buy a domain, and go on with your life. You need to visit the registry itself and fill in a specific form first, upload your documents, get through multiple checks, and only after that are you able to register a domain. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that locals almost never buy local domains.

Filip Borcov
The registration process is too complicated, which stops the economy from growing
Site.pro Founder, Lithuania
Site.pro

Local hosting

Because of how difficult it is to acquire a Cambodian domain, most hosting providers don’t even sell domain names. But there aren’t a lot of hosting companies to begin with. There aren’t many customers for hosting services either; their number remains a few thousand. The market is very small.

Site.pro managed to partner with the biggest local Internet service provider, but even they don’t have a very large client base — very small compared to foreign businesses, where the hosting landscape is more potent.

Hosting costs $5–7 per month, but annual payments are more common.

Cambodia’s Independence

Cambodia has a long and bloody history of different countries invading it and fighting for its land. Now, it is an independent state; however, most of the prices here are in American dollars, and in almost every ATM you can withdraw money both in the local currency and in dollars.

The official language of Cambodia is Khmer. English is regarded as a business language, just like in India, so if you contact local support in English, they will do their best to respond. The support is, of course, available 24/7, even though there are very few actual users.

Filip Borcov
The support is 24/7 mostly, but if you have five users total in the country, it could easily be 48/7 as well
Site.pro Founder, Lithuania
Site.pro

Payment Issues

Big website-building platforms aren’t prevalent in Cambodia because they have issues with processing payments. Most of them simply aren’t able to collect money, which in practice means that the local market does not exist for them. But our website builder is available because we can collect payment in cash at their real office.

When presented with the idea of having the benefits of online payment and registration, hosting providers still prefer old-fashioned paperwork — users fill in documents, visit the office to buy domains, etc. For us, it might look like the Stone Age, but that’s how things work around here.

Funnel Lifehacks

Here are some useful lifehacks related to the marketing funnel that will help you attract more clients.

  • Lifehack #1: Keep one message from start to finish. When a person enters a funnel, they come with a specific message in mind. That message can come from an ad, an article, or any other entry point. If the message is “buy a domain name”, that exact idea must stay consistent through every step of the funnel. The moment the message changes, people get confused and drop out. Funnels work best when the message stays consistent and gets delivered.
  • Lifehack #2: Use cheap domains as the main entry point. Domain names are a good first step to get a client because most people start their online journey by needing a website. Price matters a lot at this stage. When a domain costs one or five dollars instead of ten or twelve, many people will choose that option, just in case. After buying the cheapest domain, they often continue by buying the cheapest email, hosting, or website builder. A low-priced domain attracts more people and pulls them naturally into the rest of the funnel.

The Cambodian Miracle

Angkor Wat is the biggest temple complex in the world. Its architecture is incredibly advanced and complicated in terms of technology. The only question remains unanswered — how is it possible that the country with the largest temple complex in the whole world, built by half a million people, has fewer than 5,000 domains?